First Choice EPC

EPC_nightmare

Here's a good idea - lets get this company shut down. File a complaint with the government's insolvency service here:

(can't post URL's so replace (dot) with real dot....

insolvencydirect (dot) bis (dot) gov (dot) uk

navigate to ExternalOnlineForms / CompanyComplaint

You can make a complaint if you have reasonable grounds to suspect a company that is currently active of:
Causing significant harm to customers, suppliers, etc.

Breaking the law, e.g. fraud

Serious misconduct, e.g. company assets have not been used properly

Having a significant irregularity in its affairs (i.e. no registered directors!!!)

I think that First Choice EPC tick all of these boxes !!

MJP43

Are they a registered limit company?

kev100_2

I did have alot of information here to share, but Moneysavingexpert and their forum moderators in their great wisdom removed links to that information, which is completely counter productive about what this forum is about.

Anyway, contact me on this email address and I can help

firstchoiceepcscam@gmail.com.

kev100_2

Finally we are getting somewhere

http://energyassessormagazine.com/panel_admit_charges_were_wrong.html

EPC_nightmare

MJP43 - Yes they are a registered limited company - but have no directors listed, which is against the rules.

EPC_nightmare

kev100 - this is good news & hopefully will stop these stupid threatening emails. But how does it leave us regarding cancellation fees? If I place an order then cancel after 3 days (due to no service, no contact, no way to speak to anyone & the lies saying 1-3 days in big letters on the home page, then 28 days in the small print), can they claim to have provided a "service" by referring me to an EPC assessor, and can they charge for this, even after I have cancelled?

Or is this all void since their T&C's were basically illegal by their own admission?

wealdroam

EPC_nightmare wrote: »

Or is this all void since their T&C's were basically illegal by their own admission?

Generally, if one term in a set of T&Cs is found to be unenforcible, that does not usually mean all of the T&Cs are void.

kev100_2

EPC-nightmare,

If you read their response in the article, its basically ttal crap, they are twisting things to make them look like the victim, I wrote a reply picking apart their replies, I will copy it in this message, its quite long though.

Firstchooice do not operate as a referral service, and if they didnt send you the cancellation terms and the cancellation form, theey cannot charge you for starting the service until they do send them, if you cancelled before that point then they cannot charge you for anything and they have to refund you in full. If they are advertising to sell you an EPC for a fixed fee, in this case £39.99, then that is the service they are offerening, and not a referral service. Doesnt matter what crap they try to tell you to try get out of it.

Here is the reply

But I would like to clarify and correct some of the comments that firstchoice have made in their statement to you.
Point 1
[FONT=&quot]We are no longer pursuing our claim on the basis that a cancellation fee is owed to the business as we have no legal right to do so however, we will be pursuing a claim on the basis that an amount is owed for the service received up to the point of cancellation.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As they never sent the confirmation, cancellation information, terms and cancellation form (in a durable medium) they are not allowed to charge for any work they begin until they do send this information, if they do begin any work this is at their own expense. The regulations are quite clear on this – see point 7 [/FONT][FONT=&quot]http://epcscam.weebly.com/buying-an-epc-certificate.html[/FONT][FONT=&quot] including the relevant regulation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This is something we are legally entitled to charge for. We would never claim for something that we didn't feel we were legally entitled to do[/FONT][FONT=&quot].[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Only if they have sent the above information, and yet by their own admission they have illegally tried to claim for a cancellation fee !!!, so a bit of a contradiction there.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Point 2[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Our business was modelled around the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 as supplied by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (Ref:BIS/13/1368). This document makes reference to services which "have been fully performed" (i.e. completed) are exempt (Section 6 point 11) from cancellation rights. We now understand following our communications with our local trading standards office that these regulations are in fact, incorrect.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This is not exactly true, what the regulations say are that once the service is completed, then the consumer no longer has a right to cancel the contract, up until that point the consumer still has a right to cancel the contract, and if the order confirmation, cancellation information, terms and cancellation form has not been sent (in a durable medium) within 14 days, then the cancellation period is extended to 12 months plus 14 days from the time the confirmation and information is sent, again service cannot be started until this information is sent, even if service is requested to start immediately. The regulations are not incorrect; it’s the application of the regulations by firstchoiceepc that is incorrect.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Point 3[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is important to understand that the service offered by our business is a referral based business and once the order has been placed by the customer and referred to the domestic energy assessor then the service offered by us is complete. The Domestic Energy Assessor becomes responsible for the Energy Performance Certificate.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Firstly, nowhere on the firstchoice website when we made the order did it refer to their service as a referral service, secondly, firstchoiceepc charged the whole fee of £39.99 immediately from our credit card and this was paid to EPClocal.net (as noted on our credit card statement), I would consider this full payment to firstchoiceepc for the EPC certificate, and not a referral fee, and as such firstchoiceepc are fully responsible until the completion of the contract which would be when the consumer has taken delivery of the EPC certificate, especially as no mention of a referral service is made clear before the order confirmation button, only the service to supply an ECP certificate.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Point 4[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In summary, whilst we now know that we are not entitled to claim a cancellation fee, we are entitled to charge for the service received up to the point of cancellation.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As long as they have provided the confirmation, cancellation information and terms, and a cancellation form (in a durable medium), then yes that are entitled to charge for the service offered up until the point of cancellation, if they do NOT provide this information, then they are not allowed to charge for any service they perform until they DO provide the information. Every single person who has contacted me regarding an order and subsequent harassment of payment by firstchoice have never received the information that’s required, and as such any contract is unenforceable and not liable for ANY extra charges.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Point 5[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In closing, i would like to say that whilst you feel that your articles are of public interest i would disagree. I believe that your articles have encouraged people to post factually incorrect and defamatory comments on forums and in some cases open forums of their own without any consideration of the legal implications. We are currently considering our legal position in this regard as per the Defamation Act 2013.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nothing posted on any of the forums that I have seen has been factually incorrect, and I would consider the articles published by Energy Assessor Magazine completely in the public interest as without these articles and the information contained within, both myself and Peter Dowd would have found it more difficult for us to have defended successfully the false claim made against us by firstchoiceepc. And for that and on behalf of all the other customers currently facing the same harassment I thank Terry and the Energy Assessor Magazine.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One last point, I would now like to call on firstchoiceepc to publicly agree to stop sending the automated emails to their customers in which they are still trying to claim a “cancellation fee”, which even today some of their customers are still receiving, even though firstchoice completely has no merit to make a claim against them.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This is one such email, demanding payment for a cancellation fee and subsequent illegal charges emailed to me 6 days ago, and I have had confirmation from this customer that even today she has received a further email threatening court action.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]On [/FONT][FONT=&quot]16/01/2015[/FONT][FONT=&quot] you ordered an Energy Performance Certificate via our website. The service completed the moment you pressed the confirm order button from the originating ip address of 00.00.00.00. The order was subsequently cancelled on . [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As you cancelled the order a cancellation charge of [/FONT][FONT=&quot]£9.95[/FONT][FONT=&quot] became payable as per the terms of your order. You can view these terms by clicking here. We sent [/FONT][FONT=&quot]5[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]reminders advising of the cancellation fee which was due to be paid by[/FONT][FONT=&quot]12/04/2015[/FONT][FONT=&quot]. Each of the reminders advised of an additional late payment charge of [/FONT][FONT=&quot]£50.00[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]that would become payable in the event the cancellation charge was not paid by [/FONT][FONT=&quot]12/04/2015[/FONT][FONT=&quot].[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Our records indicate that the cancellation charge [/FONT][FONT=&quot]£9.95[/FONT][FONT=&quot] was not paid by [/FONT][FONT=&quot]12/04/2015[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]and so the late payment charge of [/FONT][FONT=&quot]£50.00[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]was added.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You were then given until [/FONT][FONT=&quot]17/04/2015[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]to make this payment however, our records indicate that the cancellation charge of [/FONT][FONT=&quot]£9.95[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]and the further administration charge of [/FONT][FONT=&quot]£50.00[/FONT][FONT=&quot] [/FONT][FONT=&quot]remains outstanding. We [/FONT]

flimsier

I wish I'd read this thread first.

I ordered through Savi - got charged a 'late' fee but had already paid the assessor £30 cash so paid the £24.95. Then had to pay £9.95 to access the certificate - so it's cost me £65.

However, I do have an EPC so perhaps I was lucky in one sense.

I gather that just getting one done locally is much more effective.

bluebirdcity

I'm getting these threats too which citizens advice have told me to ignore however threatening he may become. Trading Standards are taking my case quite serious as to how far he's trying to go. Wish I came across this sooner. Could really do without all this with a little boy on the way in August.